Melbourne auction clearance rates surge to shock new levels
As the city's housing market heads into the final month of winter, PropTrack data shows about 73 per cent of homes that test the market using the auctions to snare a sale — a whopping 15 percentage points up from November in 2024.
As PropTrack also revealed Melbourne's seventh straight month of home price growth yesterday, helping the city to a $24,000 price boost in the past year, two of Victoria's top auctioneers have shared their tactics for success.
Boom suburbs: Blackburn unit owners' big win
Now economists have forecast both could be set for further growth, with each of the nation's big four banks anticipating a 0.25 per cent cut to interest rates when the Reserve Bank of Australia meets on August 12.
It's good news for both sellers and buyers of the 748 Victorian homes set to go under the hammer this week.
PropTrack senior economist Anne Flaherty said in addition to borrowing and mortgage repayment costs coming down when rate cuts were implemented, demand and confidence increased in the property market.
Ms Flaherty pointed to the latest Westpac Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Survey which asked participants for their expectations around future home price growth.
'Three quarters of the people that they surveyed in July believed that prices are going to be higher in 12 months' time,' Ms Flaherty said.
'So I think there's a strong sense that it's better to get into the market sooner than later, because of those reasons.'
Auction clearance rates are also sitting at their highest level in years with Victoria recording a 73 per cent clearance rate last week, according to PropTrack figures.
'So properties are selling well and buyers are more likely to be putting in an offer at auction than risk missing out,' Ms Flaherty added.
PROFESSIONAL AUCTIONEERS' AUCTION TACTICS' TIPS:
A three-time winner of the Real Estate Institute of Victoria's Senior Auctioneer of the Year Award, Paul Tzamalis – who took out the gong in 2025 – said homeowners should be open to post-auction settlement terms that were longer, or even a little different to, industry norms.
'That way, you can encourage more participants on auction day,' Mr Tzamalis said.
His other piece of advice for sellers was to listen to their agent and auctioneers' advice on when to put a property on the market.
'It may lead to a better upside (result) under competition as opposed to under private negotiation,' he added.
Mr Tzamalis' suggested tactics for buyers include:
+ On auction day, come out of the starting block with strong bids to hopefully reduce competition from other buyers straight away.
+ If you have not already done so, in the 30 minutes prior to the auction build a rapport with the home's agents and auctioneer to understand what is going to happen once the auction starts.
+ If a home does not look like it will sell under the hammer, do your best to get in the box seat for post-auction negotiations. This means being the highest bidder so you will be first in line.
Apollo Auctions Victoria director Andy Reid, who won the 2020 REIV Senior Auctioneer of the Year, said that smart bidding could 'spook out the competition and save you money'.
'It's not about bidding as little as possible, sometimes one $10,000 bid can save you 14 $1000 bids – which happens a lot,' Mr Reid said.
His other tips are:
+ Make sure you have all of your questions about the property answered well.
+ Visualise how you're going to act if the auction is slow at the beginning and also if it takes off, visualise how you are going to get involved.
+ If you're too nervous about either the auction or acting in public, get either a confident friend to bid on your behalf or hire an advocate for their bidding services.
+ Connect with the auctioneer, we're humans too!
A house set to go under the hammer today is a former police station at 1082 Nepean Highway, Highett, with $1.2m-$1.3m price expectations.
Now a five-bedroom home, the backyard features an original jail cell complete with a concrete toilet and barred door.
Ray White Carnegie director Tom Grieve said the ex-station, decommissioned in the 1990s, had been inspected by renovators and builders.
'The house needs quite a bit of work but it's a solid brick upstairs and downstairs, it's going to stand forever,' Mr Grieve said.
The 724sq m block could also be developed with townhouses subject to council approval, he added.
Also going to auction on Saturday is a Mulgrave house with views across the iconic Waverley Park grandstand.
BigginScott's Ming Xu and Jing Chen star in a Hawks-themed online listing video showcasing the four-bedroom home at 60 Waverley Park Drive that's priced at $1m-$1.1m.
The property also has views of an oval at the Waverley Park complex that served as Hawthorn's base from 2006 until recently when the club sold the site to the AFL ahead of its move to a new base in Dingley.
To celebrate the residence's connection to the sporting complex, Mr Xu dons a Hawthorn uniform and tosses a footy to Ms Chen who is standing on one of the abode's two balconies, in the listing clip.
The three-level abode has an indoor entertainers' area with its own kitchen and a gas log fire.
Mr Xu said more than 40 groups had inspected the property, mostly young families.
'They like the uniqueness of the floorplan, the low-maintenance garden and pretty good size,' he added.
In Melbourne's northern suburbs, a three-bedroom house at 72 William St, Fawkner, will head under the hammer with a $740,000-$790,000 asking range.
Owned by the same family for six decades, the circa-1965 home features a large front garden, triple-fronted facade, undercover patio and a garage with a storeroom, toilet, kitchen and two car spaces.
Ray White Coburg's Hamza Ali said first-home buyers, upsizers and investors, including some from interstate, were among the potential buyers.
'A total of 101 groups have been through,' Mr Ali said.
'People like how original it is, how strong the build is and the location and also having two bathrooms.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
eSafety sommissioner says Youtube turning blind eye to child abuse
Australia's internet watchdog has accused the world's biggest social media firms of still "turning a blind eye" to online child sex abuse material on their platforms, and said YouTube in particular had been unresponsive to its enquiries. In a report released on Wednesday, the eSafety Commissioner said YouTube, along with Apple, failed to track the number of user reports it received of child sex abuse appearing on their platforms and also could not say how long it took them to respond to such reports. The federal government decided last week to include YouTube in its world-first social media ban for teenagers, following the commissioner's advice to overturn its planned exemption for the Alphabet-owned Google's video-sharing site. "When left to their own devices, these companies aren't prioritising the protection of children and are seemingly turning a blind eye to crimes occurring on their services," eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said in a statement. "No other consumer-facing industry would be given the licence to operate by enabling such heinous crimes against children on their premises, or services." Google has said previously that abuse material has no place on its platforms and that it uses a range of industry-standard techniques to identify and remove such material. Meta — owner of Facebook, Instagram and Threads, three of the biggest platforms with more than three billion users worldwide — has said it prohibits graphic videos. The eSafety Commissioner, an office set up to protect internet users, has mandated Apple, Discord, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Skype, Snap and WhatsApp report on the measures they take to address child exploitation and abuse material in Australia. The report on their responses so far found a "range of safety deficiencies on their services which increases the risk that child sexual exploitation and abuse material and activity appear on the services". Safety gaps included failures to detect and prevent live-streaming of the material or block links to known child abuse material, as well as inadequate reporting mechanisms. It said platforms were also not using hash-matching technology on all parts of their services to identify images of child sexual abuse by checking them against a database. Google has maintained its anti-abuse measures include hash-matching technology and artificial intelligence. The Australian regulator said some providers had not made improvements to address these safety gaps on their services despite it putting them on notice in previous years. "In the case of Apple services and Google's YouTube, they didn't even answer our questions about how many user reports they received about child sexual abuse on their services or details of how many trust and safety personnel Apple and Google have on-staff," Ms Inman Grant said. Reuters
News.com.au
4 hours ago
- News.com.au
Weekend auction wrap: Sydney family smashes neighbour's record
A home in Sydney's northwest has sold for a suburb record, smashing the price paid for a home owned by the neighbours - the previous highest price in the area. The property on Anthony Rd sold for $4.7 million, setting a new record for a house sale in West Ryde. The auction saw the sellers pcoket a price $300,000 above their $4.4 million reserve. It has come amid rising auction activity that suggests Sydney is due another round of stellar growth in home prices. Auction clearance rates have been above 70 per cent for weeks, with preliminary figures showing nearly three quarters of auctions last week produced a sale. Historically, this kind of success rate over successive weeks has coincided with widespread price rises. Pello Northern Suburbs sales agent Michael Dowling said the West Ryde auction was 'really competitive' with bidding starting at $3.8 million. 'The previous highest sale in West Ryde was the house next door, and that sold for $4.19 about two years ago,' he said. 'So we knew it was going to be better than that, but I didn't think it was going to be $510,000 better than that.' Mr Dowling said the home sold to a mother and two sons moving from Cheltenham who wanted a more spacious home that was ready to move in to. 'A lot of people in our area want that move-in ready feel, rather than going through the hassle and the inconvenience of dealing with council,' he said. 'A lot of people just want that finished product now.' Based on results received so far, about 75 per cent of Sydney auctions were successful last week. Auction clearance rates above 70 per cent have historically correlated with rises in prices across the Sydney market as a whole. Ray White NSW head of auctions Dave McMahon said the first weekend of August saw a 25 per cent decrease in scheduled auctions from the week prior. 'The notable difference was that only half of them proceeded through the day,' he said. 'With stock levels low, agents have been more open to entertaining offers prior with circa 15-20 per cent selling before auction day. 'Despite lower auction numbers today, we continued to see spirited competition from buyers with an average of 5.8 registered and 3.6 actively bidding.' Two auctions hosted by Scerri Auctions auctioneer Fadi Hajjar on Friday were moved inside to Saliba Estate Agents' offices in order to get bidders out of the rain. 'The decision to move it in-room was brilliant,' Mr Hajjar said. 'It created a really warm environment for bidders.' The homes under the hammer on King Rd, Hornsby and Kooringal Ave, Thornlie sold for prices well over their respective reserves. The property on King Rd sold for $2.095 million, a price $195,000 over reserve, while 78 Kooringal Ave sold for $2.395 million, $295,000 above its reserve. Mr Hajjar said it was a 'hesitant start' to the bidding, before they 'heated up very quickly.' Fifty-six bids were placed for 78 Kooringal Ave and a staggering 117 bids were placed during the auction for 8 King Rd. MORE: Pub baron's lavish lifestyle while owing $1bn criticised Further out west, a family were reported to be delighted with the sale of their property in Hassall Grove. No. 33 Monica Ave sold over reserve for a price of $1.015 million, with bidding opening at $800,000. Sales agent Meshel Bahnam of Ray White United Group said there were 17 registered bidders, the most he has seen in 'well over 18 months'. 'People are trying to buy before rates change this month,' she said. 'In the end, local first home buyers who have been looking for six months bought the house. 'They are so happy as they keep missing out on auctions,' said Mr Banham. Mr Banham said it was a suburb record price for a three-bedroom, one-bathroom house on a 454 sqm block. Sellers Brooke, Alex and their three children were reported to be contemplating a move to Lake Macquarie for a lifestyle change. Other sales included the auction for 50 Iandra Street, Concord West, which sold to its first bidder, going for a price of $3.51 million. Horwood Nolan founder and director Ben Horwood said interest was strong in the lead up to the auction. 'We had three registered bidders, all who had shown strong interest throughout the campaign,' he said. Mr Horwood said the home's location mostly attracted interest from families.
Daily Telegraph
4 hours ago
- Daily Telegraph
Weekend auction wrap: Sydney family smashes neighbour's record
A home in Sydney's northwest has sold for a suburb record, smashing the price paid for a home owned by the neighbours – the previous highest price in the area. The property on Anthony Rd sold for $4.7 million, setting a new record for a house sale in West Ryde. The auction saw the sellers pcoket a price $300,000 above their $4.4 million reserve. It has come amid rising auction activity that suggests Sydney is due another round of stellar growth in home prices. Auction clearance rates have been above 70 per cent for weeks, with preliminary figures showing nearly three quarters of auctions last week produced a sale. Historically, this kind of success rate over successive weeks has coincided with widespread price rises. Pello Northern Suburbs sales agent Michael Dowling said the West Ryde auction was 'really competitive' with bidding starting at $3.8 million. 'The previous highest sale in West Ryde was the house next door, and that sold for $4.19 about two years ago,' he said. 'So we knew it was going to be better than that, but I didn't think it was going to be $510,000 better than that.' MORE: Aus worse off as RBA rate cut panic sets in Mr Dowling said the home sold to a mother and two sons moving from Cheltenham who wanted a more spacious home that was ready to move in to. 'A lot of people in our area want that move-in ready feel, rather than going through the hassle and the inconvenience of dealing with council,' he said. 'A lot of people just want that finished product now.' MORE: 'Pivotal moment': chance to buy in Sydney for half price Auction clearance rates above 70 per cent have historically correlated with rises in prices across the Sydney market as a whole. Ray White NSW head of auctions Dave McMahon said the first weekend of August saw a 25 per cent decrease in scheduled auctions from the week prior. 'The notable difference was that only half of them proceeded through the day,' he said. 'With stock levels low, agents have been more open to entertaining offers prior with circa 15-20 per cent selling before auction day. 'Despite lower auction numbers today, we continued to see spirited competition from buyers with an average of 5.8 registered and 3.6 actively bidding.' MORE: Where your luxury car can come to dinner 'The decision to move it in-room was brilliant,' Mr Hajjar said. 'It created a really warm environment for bidders.' The homes under the hammer on King Rd, Hornsby and Kooringal Ave, Thornlie sold for prices well over their respective reserves. The property on King Rd sold for $2.095 million, a price $195,000 over reserve, while 78 Kooringal Ave sold for $2.395 million, $295,000 above its reserve. Mr Hajjar said it was a 'hesitant start' to the bidding, before they 'heated up very quickly.' Fifty-six bids were placed for 78 Kooringal Ave and a staggering 117 bids were placed during the auction for 8 King Rd. MORE: Pub baron's lavish lifestyle while owing $1bn criticised Further out west, a family were reported to be delighted with the sale of their property in Hassall Grove. No. 33 Monica Ave sold over reserve for a price of $1.015 million, with bidding opening at $800,000. Sales agent Meshel Bahnam of Ray White United Group said there were 17 registered bidders, the most he has seen in 'well over 18 months'. 'People are trying to buy before rates change this month,' she said. 'In the end, local first home buyers who have been looking for six months bought the house. 'They are so happy as they keep missing out on auctions,' said Mr Banham. Mr Banham said it was a suburb record price for a three-bedroom, one-bathroom house on a 454 sqm block. Sellers Brooke, Alex and their three children were reported to be contemplating a move to Lake Macquarie for a lifestyle change. Other sales included the auction for 50 Iandra Street, Concord West, which sold to its first bidder, going for a price of $3.51 million. Horwood Nolan founder and director Ben Horwood said interest was strong in the lead up to the auction. 'We had three registered bidders, all who had shown strong interest throughout the campaign,' he said. Mr Horwood said the home's location mostly attracted interest from families. MORE: Aus worse off as RBA rate cut panic sets in
